Abstract

To evaluate the mesoscale relationships between Corn Belt land surface properties and a key indicator of the surface-atmosphere feedback in humid climates warm-season (convective cloud development) conventional meteorological data, digital maps of land surface properties, and satellite data were examined in a GIS framework for the May-September periods of 1991 through 1999. The results indicate associations between the surface and atmospheric moisture content and the formation of convective clouds. These relationships are evident when forcing from the free atmosphere is either extremely weak or strong. The AA. find that a surface-convective cloud relationship dominates Corn Belt land surface-atmosphere interactions across a range of barotropic synoptic conditions under different atmospheric moisture contents